Snakes and Fools
by TwinTrouble
Summary: Snakes and fools. Throughout history, how easily they intertwine.


**Snakes and Fools**

All things are connected…

The child crouched in his garden, his pale skin and soft dark hair giving him the appearance of a fragile china doll left by a careless girl in the beautiful, flowering garden. His big, onyx eyes were wide with wonder as he stared at the

_thing could he ever look away what was going to happen next? He lifted his chin and squared his shoulders; he couldn't show anger, he __**wouldn't **__show fear. The man smirked slightly, his black eyes_

glittering in the garden's warm sunshine. Bright flowers – red, yellow and purple – raised their pretty heads, soaking in the light while they could. But the boy's attention was not on them. Instead, he was watching that sleek black body that had wound through the grass. The little black garden snake was motionless, and the child hesitantly reached out a little hand to

History always repeats…

_grip his sword tightly as he circled his master, weighing it in his fist. He was panting harshly, tired from their spar, but it was not over yet. The leering man opposite him tilted his head, silently mocking his gasping student. _

"_So? Are you ready to give up, like the weakling you are?"_

_He shook his head, and the master sighed lightly, exasperatedly. _

"_You are exhausted. Let us take a break."_

_Another stubborn shake of the head. The master rolled his eyes._

"_Sasuke…_

dear, what are you dong?"

The child jumped at his mother's words and looked over his shoulder cautiously, his right hand still outstretched before the watchful snake. He put his free left hand back to gesture the woman over, hurriedly pressing a finger to his lips to plead with her to keep her silence.

"A snake," he whispered, praying her presence wouldn't startle the little creature into fleeing. The woman, who was standing by the clothes' line with a basket on her hip, carefully put her burden down and approached.

Her light footsteps announced her arrival and a shadow was cast over him as the woman looked over the crouching child's shoulder.

She spotted the snake, smiling slightly with relief when she saw it was of the harmless garden variety, and nodded, moving back to her washing.

"Well, be careful, dear."

The child ignored her, or was rather too fascinated by his discovery to acknowledge her words as she headed quietly (if only to humour him) back to her chores. The mother bent to pluck dripping linen from her basket, quickly pegging the white sheets

_were tangled around him when he woke, gasping, jerking upright. He swore when he realised he was in his room. Must have blacked out again. He hated that. He was supposed to be getting stronger! For his family! He forced himself out of bed and knelt on the floor, searching in the oppressive darkness for his shoes. He needed to train, with or without his master. He couldn't afford to rest. His wandering fingers found a blade beneath his bed and he gasped_

as the snake slid towards him a few inches, it beady black eyes surveying him coolly, as if weighing him up. The child's right hand twitched, and (with a courage that both surprised and pleased him) the young fingers were curling around the snake's black body gently, lifting it up.

For a moment the reptile was limp, unsure what was happening, but then it began to thrash wildly. The child held on firmly, but when the snake sunk its fangs into his knuckles, he

We shouldn't be surprised…

_yelped softly as a knee was driven into his gut and he collapsed. His master was standing over him, taunting him._

"_Why, now, Sasuke. I thought you wanted to train. I thought you wanted to get stronger. I even followed you out to the arena to train you, although you've already disappointed me once today by proving too weak to cope. Are you just going to kneel there?"_

_The young man gritted his teeth and stumbled back to his feet. He was so tired, but he couldn't rest! He had to train… to get strong… he had to! That was why he was here, with a man he hated, a man who hurt and belittled him at every opportunity. A man who was sick, violent, psychotic. A man who was a murderer. _

_But none of that mattered. His friend's pleas for him to stay away from this man, dubbed 'the Snake', fell on deaf ears. He had a mission: to kill his older brother._

_So he endured the harsh beating by his master, who was impossibly stronger than he was, and refused to give up. They sparred until finally, the master overbalanced the student and forced him to land face-first in the dirt, placing a foot on the back of his neck to keep him there. He was speaking, but Sasuke couldn't understand_

why he was so fascinated with the little creature, but he couldn't bring himself to let it go. It glared at him accusingly and tried to coil around his wrist.

"Sasuke, honey! Put that down!" his mother's slightly worried voice called behind him. "What if it bites you?"

"It won't…"

"Your father won't be pleased when he finds out, you know!"

Father was never pleased. Father never cared. Father was only interested in Brother. It wasn't fair.

Sasuke frowned, his eyes on the writhing black snake – _I'll have to find a name for it, you know _– that still squinted at him with those black eyes. It soon calmed down slightly, though.

Mother was so paranoid.

He didn't understand why Mother always-_always_-always took Father's side, or why Brother was ignoring him. It wasn't fair.

Sighing, he moved his hand over to a swath of daisies and let the snake go. Where before he had felt curious –

When our pasts become our presents…

– **but you still feel curious. That's what you are, Sasuke, you know that? Just like a child.**

**You want.**

**You're greedy and selfish and naïve. You expect too much of yourself.**

**You expect your brother of yourself.**

**He knew that.**

**So unable to let go. So unable to let go, even for a moment. Once you set your gaze on something you want, you must have it. Like the spoiled child you were, you simply have to have whatever you want. No matter the cost, or the harm it does you or those around you, you can't take your eyes off those pretty things you **_**want**_**. Like a child.**

**It's madness, really, what you're doing to yourself. **

**But all children have to grow up sometime, don't they?**

The snake was gone, slithering into non-existence in the child's mind as he grew bored and dismissed it. The mother hummed a little tune as she hung out washing, and he knew that he should go train – _be like Brother, dammit_ – but he didn't move.

"_Soon, Sasuke. Soon, you shall be stronger than your brother. Try again tomorrow."_

_The Snake's oily voice washed over his ears in what the master probably thought was an encouraging voice, but only succeeded in salting smarting wounds. In his mind's eye he saw his brother reach up to_

examine the puncture marks on his finger with distaste. The aching pinpricks seemed a high price to pay, in hindsight, for such a brief amusement. Sasuke gritted his teeth against the pain of it – _it wouldn't bother Brother_ – and twitched his appendages, examining a sensation that he had little past knowledge of; pain

our presents become our future…

_he was used to it, but that didn't mean he liked it. Sasuke pulled himself into a sitting position and glared at his master's retreating back. Beaten again, left behind again. _

_Where was the hatred that had driven him? Ah, there it was. Burning a hole through his chest and heart, making it hard to breathe. It overshadowed everything: the love he had once felt for his brother, his family; the loyalty he had felt for his village; his friend's laughing eyes…_

_No! Let me keep that! Please, I wanna keep that!_

And our future becomes our past.

"Mama, I'm going to train now."

"Okay, sweetheart. Don't stay out too long. Your brother's coming home tonight, and your father will be cross if you're late."

"I know…"

The mother's comforting eyes

_closed slowly, and he let himself drift off to the sleep his body so desperately wanted, right there in the training arena. He had so far to go before he could fight and defeat his brother. So much to do, so many ways he needed to improve._

**They say curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.**

_Was it worth it? To sacrifice everything I had, for the chance to kill my brother?_

**Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger.**

_Was it worth it? Oh, please tell me it was worth it. Please, please tell me… _

**Only fools chase snakes, Sasuke…**

Are children really innocent?


End file.
